WBSGVS Chapter 36 V1

At five o’clock in the afternoon, Pei Mingjiang had just left the hospital when he received a phone call from the school: “Hello, may I ask if you are the parent of Fu Qingli?”

Pei Mingjiang wanted to answer, “No!” but especially in front of outsiders, he had to put on a show of caring for Fu Qingli. So he immediately replied in a friendly tone, “Yes, I’m her grandfather.”

The person on the other end of the line quickly said, “Fu Qingli had a fight at school and caused someone to bleed from the nose. Please come to the school as soon as possible to deal with this.”

Pei Mingjiang was taken aback: “What did you say?”

The teacher repeated the message, this time with a sterner tone: “Although Fu Qingli’s injuries are not serious, she was very aggressive. We hope you can come to the school to handle this matter as soon as possible; other parents have already started to arrive.”

After a pause, the teacher added, “Among the parents of the students who were hit, two have also donated a teaching building to our school, and they insist on not letting this go easily. You may want to bring a lawyer with you.”

Pei Mingjiang was speechless.

His frail body swayed slightly, and he nearly lost his balance.

Uncle Wei carefully supported him and asked, “What happened? Is there an issue with the company?”

Pei Mingjiang wiped his face. This recent turmoil had aged him years; even his voice sounded more hoarse: “It’s Fu Qingli. She got into a fight and it got a bit serious. The school wants me to come to deal with it quickly.”

Uncle Wei was taken aback, not expecting such a situation. He recalled seeing Qingli in her sports clothes heading out for exercise that morning. Could it be because of this?

He hesitated, “Should I go handle it?”

Pei Mingjiang shook his head with a bitter smile, taking a deep breath: “The people she offended this time are not easy to deal with. You won’t be able to handle it.”

How could a mere housekeeper stand up to someone who had donated a building to the school?

It had to be him who went!

Pei Mingjiang felt a pang in his heart. Even when several expensive vases were broken before, he only felt a bit of pain. Now he even doubted if Fu Qingli had deliberately targeted the other parents based on their identities.

But even so, he had to swallow this bitter pill!

Pei Mingjiang got up, leaning on his cane, and unsteadily made his way outside while Uncle Wei prepared the car, daring to go pick up the little troublemaker.

An hour later, the car came to a stop again. The little troublemaker, who had been brought back at a significant cost, got out of the car with a light step and didn’t forget to turn back to Pei Mingjiang with a beaming smile, saying, “Thank you for your hard work, Grandpa Pei!”

Pei Mingjiang felt exhausted. Just thinking about the several parents he faced in the teacher’s office, and the bruised little girl in one of the parents’ arms, made him weary.

The girl who had been hit the hardest was known to be someone who often fought at school, and she didn’t look like the typical good girl. Ironically, when this kind of girl saw Fu Qingli, she would shudder and instinctively avoid her.

Fu Qingli also had injuries; after all, it was a miracle that she managed to take on five girls and come out victorious without severe harm.

But she didn’t care at all.

In comparison to Pei Cheng, she had truly shown mercy by merely pushing him down the stairs!

Pei Mingjiang’s emotions were complicated. Hearing her cheerful voice made him feel even more frustrated. As they got out of the car, he muttered, “If you want to thank me, just say what you want in the future. No more trouble.”

If he weren’t worried about Lin Hengzhi finding out about Fu Qingli’s situation, he would have sought reimbursement from Lin Hengzhi for this!

Unfortunately, he couldn’t say that; at most, he could mention how she was bullied before.

Otherwise, Lin Hengzhi would realize something was off, especially since he had previously reported that Fu Qingli was a well-behaved, diligent girl.

Although she wasn’t particularly talented her grades weren’t good, and she couldn’t follow in her grandfather’s footsteps in research, under Pei’s family protection, she could manage to get into an undergraduate program and have a stable job.

Now that she dared to fight and offend a group of people, anyone could understand that this little girl had changed drastically, which was unusual.

Sometimes Pei Mingjiang even doubted if Fu Qingli had become a different person. But aside from her personality, nothing else had changed. And since it was the twenty-first century and superstitions weren’t taken seriously, he could only follow the psychologist’s suggestion: she had been oppressed so harshly that she had developed an extreme side to her personality!

Pei Mingjiang pursed his lips. Although he was unwilling, he had to inform his son and daughter-in-law about this. He couldn’t just treat her like a little ancestor anymore, nor could he continue as he had in the past.

Qingli was still smiling, happily listening to how much Pei Mingjiang had to negotiate with those parents to settle the issue. She chirped, “I didn’t cause any trouble! Isn’t it just that someone bumped into me? Thanks to the engagement you arranged, Grandpa Pei, Pei Xiyue is popular; everyone is watching me.”

After saying this, she glanced at Pei Mingjiang with some regret. The first time she met him, he was still a spirited sixty-year-old man. Now, however, he seemed to have aged twenty years; he had to lean on something while walking, or else he would shake unsteadily. In the past, the cane was merely a precaution; now it was a necessity.

But she had to stop here. Qingli planned to leave the Pei family.

Pei Mingjiang’s health was already weakened from all this turmoil; if there were a couple more incidents, he would be at death’s door.

If she continued to stay in the Pei family, she feared that she might inadvertently push too far and genuinely scare him to death, which would mean legal responsibilities.

Since she couldn’t trouble Pei Mingjiang anymore and didn’t want to see the rest of the Pei family, it was better to leave sooner.

Pei Mingjiang felt a wave of frustration. The good marriage proposal that others could only dream of—his grandson was such an excellent person! Yet Fu Qingli was now avoiding it; he shook his head unhappily, saying, “This is all your grandfather’s fault. We agreed long ago that it wouldn’t be up to you youngsters.”

“I’ve never even met him, so I can’t be blamed,” Qingli shrugged and replied with a smile. “Who told Grandpa Pei to be right in front of me?”

The two chatted casually, seemingly unaffected by the previous unpleasantness. This was Pei Mingjiang’s strength; even when he was angry when he wanted to pretend, he could surpass even the best actors.

As they spoke, they entered the house, where a few teenagers of Pei Xiyue’s age were sitting in the living room.

They hadn’t lowered their voices, and the group heard their conversation, glancing at each other in disbelief. One of them even quietly asked, “Is this Fu Qingli?”

That voice was lowered, but the room was quiet enough that Qingli could still hear.

She smiled politely at the few of them. Although they were with Pei Xiyue, they had never bullied the original character, so there was no need to be rude.

The group smiled back, maintaining a facade of politeness.

Qingli headed upstairs first, and behind her, several voices greeted her. Soon, the downstairs became noisy as they expressed their astonishment at Fu Qingli’s transformation.

Pei Xiyue’s somewhat displeased voice occasionally echoed in response, but it was too far away to be heard.

It wasn’t until Qingli quickly took a shower and came down to grab the medicine box that she reached the corner of the staircase and overheard a boy in the living room whispering, “Ah Yue, did you go to purposely get in front of Fu Qingli again?”

Pei Xiyue replied in confusion, “No, she’s been quiet for a while, so I haven’t used those underhanded tactics lately.”

After all, she was a girl, and he didn’t want to go too far.

“Then how did she get into a fight? When we just arrived, they said it was because of you,” said one of the boys.

Pei Xiyue scoffed, “She’s got her ideas now and is pretty bold; who knows what it was for!”

The other boys made sounds of surprise, and another one laughed, “I never thought Fu Qingli was a little wolf. You probably managed to stay alive only because she was around—watch out!”

One boy’s expression changed dramatically as he shouted, but it was too late; Qingli had come up from behind them, hidden in their blind spot, and her footsteps were so light that the gossiping boys hadn’t noticed her.

By the time they did, it was too late!

A basin of cold water was dumped over Pei Xiyue’s head, drenching him completely.

Pei Xiyue jumped in shock, turned around, and saw Fu Qingli. He was immediately furious. “Have you lost your mind? It’s always about this or that; did I owe you something?”

Qingli angrily smashed the water basin down, coldly saying, “You do owe me! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been bullied by those people. So it turns out you were deliberately leading them on!”

She couldn’t understand why those girls were so fixated on the original host. Most people wouldn’t behave that way even if their crush had a fiancée.

The original host and Pei Xiyue were not meant to be together, but still, two groups of people had bullied her, all because Pei Xiyue had provoked them!

Pei Xiyue’s expression froze in anger as he waved away the water basin, his hair still dripping, embarrassment creeping over his features. He subconsciously said, “At that time, you kept bringing up the engagement! I was annoyed, so I just went along with it. I know it wasn’t right; I only did it a few times!”

It was only a handful of times because he realized that what he was doing was leading Fu Qingli into bullying. He even warned the girls about it.

But they agreed on the surface and then intensified their bullying behind his back. Eventually, Pei Xiyue pretended not to see it and stopped intervening, but some of his buddies who knew about it occasionally instigated things, like just now.

Little did he know that Fu Qingli had overheard everything.

Pei Xiyue’s friends exchanged glances, feeling awkward, and seeing Qingli’s cold expression, they dared not interrupt and awkwardly stepped back.

Qingli scoffed, “A few times isn’t enough?!” After saying that, she leaned on the back of the sofa and kicked at Pei Xiyue.

“What are you doing?!” Pei Xiyue yelled, flustered and feeling guilty. He didn’t dare to retaliate against a girl, so he could only dodge.

Qingli had just taken a break and was full of energy now. Although she was injured, she could endure it. Seeing Pei Xiyue evade her, she charged directly at him.

“Shit!” Pei Xiyue was caught off guard and pinned down. His anger flared, and he gripped her fist tightly.

The two of them started fighting!

The servants in the living room gasped and hurriedly called for Uncle Wei, who was equally surprised. He could understand Fu Qingli fighting with someone else but fighting with Pei Xiyue was astonishing. He rushed to break it up.

But before he could get there, Pei Xiyue shouted, “Don’t come over!”

Uncle Wei stood there helplessly, unable to tell the exhausted Pei Mingjiang, watching with a troubled expression.

Fortunately, the fight ended quickly.

Pei Xiyue had never fought a girl before, so he was hesitant, while Qingli had martial arts skills and was fearless. Although she lacked strength, she was ruthless and willing to exchange blows, unhindered by any constraints.

In the end, she pinned Pei Xiyue to the ground and choked him, saying coldly, “I want you to experience what bullying feels like!”

The surrounding onlookers gasped in shock, and Uncle Wei panicked, “Ah Li, let go! You could overlook things before, but this time, Grandpa Pei will be angry!”

“Why should I care if he’s angry?!” Qingli yelled back irritably.

Silence fell, and Uncle Wei, pale-faced, bit his tongue, fearing that she might truly lose her mind.

Pei Xiyue, being choked, remained silent. His throat hurt, and it was hard to breathe, but he wasn’t suffocating. He stayed quiet, staring at the girl in front of him.

After fighting so intensely, Qingli looked disheveled, her face flushed, but her eyes were surprisingly bright.

Pei Xiyue’s heart raced uncontrollably, beating harder with each pulse, thump, thump… He finally managed to say, “I—I’m sorry!”

Qingli felt a pang in her heart as if a wave of immense grievance was about to overflow from her eyes. Her dark, shining gaze suddenly glimmered with unshed tears.

Of course, this wasn’t her emotion; it was the original host’s. She felt wronged, as the engagement had been set up by Pei Mingjiang, misleading her into thinking she could form a family with this handsome boy, only to find out that he not only said he hated her but also acted this way!

Pei Xiyue’s eyes widened in surprise as he stared at her. The resistance he had was completely gone.

Qingli, on the other hand, quickly recovered. The original host’s emotions were quickly suppressed. She took a deep breath, slowly released her grip, and stood up, her expression already returning to calm, as if she had never fought so fiercely.

She disdainfully wiped her hands; her pale palms were smeared with red from exerting too much force. Turning to the kitchen, she called, “Auntie, I want to eat fish-flavored shredded pork. Please bring it to my room later, thank you.”

“Sure,” the aunt replied, seemingly shocked, nodding vigorously after three seconds.

Qingli smiled, took the medicine box from the shelf on the first floor, and went upstairs alone.

Ouch!